Bristol Central’s Clingan adds another All-State accolade to his growing list of basketball achievements

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Posted By: Michael Letendre April 26, 2021

By Michael Letendre

The honors keep rolling in for one of the top scholastic boys basketball players in the state.

And that means Bristol Central junior Donovan Clingan needs a little more space on his trophy shelf for yet another award.

The 2021 Connecticut High School Coaches Association’s All-State Boys Basketball teams were released on Thursday, April 22 and the center from Bristol Central headed the Division II list.

Clingan, all 7-foot-1 and 265 pounds of him, dominated CCC, Region B play this season.

While the division had several good players this year, the big man stood out as the top boys hoopster.

This past season, over a run that saw the Rams go a perfect 15-0, Clingan averaged a truly amazing double-double.

Overall, Clingan dropped in 27.3 points and 17.2 rebounds-per-game.

Add in 5.8 blocks and 3.1 assists-per-game, who else in the state of Connecticut boasted those kinds of numbers?

Then add in the undefeated ledger and you have yourself the entire package.

Central won all the close games, wrapping up a 3-0 record in games that were decided by three points or less with victories over Avon (78-76), Plainville (64-61), and East Catholic (69-68) in overtime to decide the CCC Tournament champion in an epic confrontation.

The regular season was tremendous for Bristol Central and Clingan and while he averaged around 25.0 ppg over those 12 games, he elevated his play in postseason play.

In three CCC tournament contests, Clingan roasted the competition for 108 points and 79 rebounds overall – good for 36.0 points and 26.3 rebounds-per-game.

Who has ever tallied that kind of postseason scoring and rebounding from Central or any Bristol program for that matter?

As each postseason game rolled along, Clingan was more than ready for the challenge against the best the CCC had to offer.

All the top teams in the CCC were rolled by the Rams in the end.

And don’t forget, Windsor, Northwest and East Catholic were ranked in the top-four of the Connecticut state rankings.

On March 22, Central started its quest for the CCC Tournament championship as the No. 5 seed – taking on fourth rated Windsor in a contest in which more than a few media outlets predicted would be won by the Warriors.

In that contest, the Rams led wire-to-wire, sinking Windsor by a 73-59 final.

Clingan had one of his finest scholastic games, posting a career-high 39 points to go along with 26 rebounds and 10 blocks for an amazing postseason triple-double.

Two days later, in a showdown against No. 1 Northwest Catholic, it was more of the same.

Clingan started the game by immediately draining two three-pointers on his way to 36 points and 27 rebounds against the third rated team in the state.

Finally, in a contest everyone was looking forward to, Central battled No. 2 East Catholic in the state’s biggest game of the year.

And Clingan popped off for 33 points, 26 rebounds, and five assists over another MVP performance.

He ended up hitting the game-winning shot and helped his squad to the program’s first CCC Tournament title since 2003.

Thanks to that ending, Central finished ranked No. 1 in the state polls and the three-time All-CCC South selection proved to be the best player Connecticut had to offer in 2021. 

And once the scholastic season concluded, Clingan started his AAU season with Team Spartans out of Boston – a squad that’s loaded with talent from all over New England.

Clingan has yet to decide his collegiate future and has nearly twenty Division I scholarship offers to mull over.

Plus, he wants one more crack at a scholastic season next year and hopes to bring Central a state title as he prepares for the next step in his basketball career.

Clingan also has a chance to become Bristol’s all-time leading scorer in scholastic history – boys or girls.

This season, Clingan was also named to GameTimeCT All-State Boys Basketball team, earning their MVP award in the process.

The 2021 CHSCA All-State Boys Basketball Team

DIVISION II

  • Donovan Clingan, Bristol Central
  • Daniel Wellington, Kolbe Cathedral
  • Avery Hinnant, Naugatuck
  • Ese Onakpoma, Naugatuck
  • Jack Peterson, Newtown
  • Tyshawn Jackson, Prince Tech
  • Malcolm Duncanson, West Haven
  • Eli Blackwell, West Haven
  • Justin Menard, Xavier

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